HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Throw out Case vs Punks – Kin, Friends to Baguio Fiscal

Friends and families of the nine punks still languishing at the Benguet Provincial Jail in La Trinidad have asked the fiscal to immediately throw out the case against them. They maintain that the nine punks are innocent and their arrest was “unlawful from the start.”

BY NESTOR GUILLERMO
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat

BAGUIO CITY — Friends and families of the nine punks still languishing at the Benguet Provincial Jail in La Trinidad just outside this city have asked the fiscal here to immediately throw out the case against them.

They gathered at the Baguio Justice Hall grounds last Nov. 8 to express support for the jailed punks – nine of 11 who were arrested in Buguias, Benguet last February while on their way to Sagada, Mountain Province and subsequently accused of being New People’s Army members who raided a military detachment. Originally they planned a three-day “peace camp” at the park near the Baguio Justice Hall, to parade and hopefully convince Fiscal Octavio Banta that the nine punks who have been detained for almost nine months are innocent and their arrest was “unlawful from the start.”

Failing to acquire necessary permits for the “peace camp” the nearly 20 punks –equipped with their placards, tight pants, favorite black boots, signature hair styles –  who had come from Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, as well as Baguio resorted to a “silent protest,” according to Cris de Vera, 23,  who is from Bulacan.

With the group was the father of Darwin Alagar, a punk detainee who hails from Urdaneta City.  

“Inosente at hindi NPA ang anak ko. Sana pakawalan na sila ng opisyal” (My son is innocent and not an NPA member. I hope the officials free them soon), said Deos Alagar, 47, a house painter, in an interview with Nordis.  

In their letter to Banta, the protesters stated that their desire to help free their relatives and friends from prison made them decide to write him in order to continue the campaign for their release.

They have also gathered around 3,000 signatures in support of the campaign for the punks’ release. The signatures were shown to the Department of Justice (DOJ) main office in Manila. “This shows our willingness…to get justice,” said Rian Peralta, 23, who hails from Bulacan. 

Peralta added that a film showing on the discrimination against punks would also be staged at the Vocas – a room at the La Azotea building along Session Road, Baguio City used for displays of artworks – to “popularize punk culture” and to increase public awareness on their plight.

Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) vice chair Beverly Longid, who is handling the case of the nine punks said that last Nov. 6 they received from Banta a subpoena asking them to submit counter-affidavits.

She also stressed that the CHRA and the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) maintain that the punks are innocent and their arrest and detention are “unlawful from the start.” Northern Dispatch / Posted by Bulatlat

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